Newborn Needs a Dad / His Motherless Little Twins by Dianne Drake Page A

and personal with a pregnant lady,” he admitted, “and I’m finding it fascinating. I’ll bet you don’t even know how many times in any given hour you raise your hand to your belly, and smile. And it’s a warm smile, one that comes from a place I’m not sure any man could ever truly understand, which is too bad, because I’ve always thought men were left out of the best part. It’s amazing, though, isn’t it? A brand-new life about to happen. We know how it happens, know that it happens, but it’s still amazing and all the men can do is stand back and watch.”
    “Want to do more than watch?” she asked. “He’s kicking, if you’d like to feel.”
    A smile spread across Neil’s face as he laid aside his napkin, stood up and went to her side of the table. Without a word, Gabby took his hand and guided it to her right side where, indeed, Bryce was making himself known. Then, instinctively, she pulled up her sweater to let Neil see the little blips her baby made on her belly when he kicked. “He’s one rambunctious boy,” she said, surprised how intimate this felt. Normally, she hated people coming up and touching her belly like it was their right. So many people did that. Poke, prod, pat…it made her cringe thinking about all the uninvited hands she’d had on her lately. But Neil’s hands, as he laid them on her bare flesh now, and felt the kick of her child in a way no one butshe had before, were so gentle, so right. What surprised her was how the baby settled down almost immediately under Neil’s touch, like he knew that this man was part of his life.
    “You have a good way with him. I guess that’s why you became a pediatrician,” she said, pulling her sweater back into place as the waiter approached the table. All too soon the moment was over, and Neil was back sitting across from her, staring again, as the waiter fussed over the table, rearranging the flowers, setting aside the candle, refolding the napkins.
    Gabby liked it that Neil watched her that way. In an odd sort of way, it made her feel almost…sexy. And pregnant women were sexy. That’s what she told her patients every day. But sexy had no place in their relationship. They weren’t lovers, sharing a wonderful experience together. After this evening, after she told him the little boy he’d just felt kicking was his flesh and blood, they might not even be friends. So rather than saying anything, she took a drink of her sparkling water as melancholy slipped down over her. They had no future, no past. All they had was just this moment, which suddenly felt lonely.
    Dinner went nicely in spite of the glum mood that had come on her earlier. The food was wonderful, the conversation light. Neil wisely avoided talking anything of substance, for which she was grateful, and he even managed to stay off hospital matters. Throughout the whole thing, Gabby couldn’t help but wonder what it might have been like had this been a real date between two people in different circumstances. Maybe in love, or on the verge of it. But this was her lot now, and while the evening had brought on a good case of the blues earlier, she wasn’t really unhappy. They were temporary, while the excitement of what was happening to her was permanent. It’s all good, she decided on herway back from the ladies’ room. “And things will work out the way they’re meant to be,” she whispered to Bryce.
    She cut around the edge of the dance floor, where a dozen couples were dancing to something seductive that could have been sung by Frank Sinatra. The low tones from the tiny orchestra were so smooth and sensual, she couldn’t help but slow her pace, to watch for a moment, and to listen. Which was her mistake, because Neil stepped up from behind and led her straight to the dance floor.
    “Gratuity time,” he whispered, as he took hold of her hand and pulled her into him as far as she could go, all things considered.
    “And if I simply walked away?” She wanted to, but